"Get every recording gadget we've got on the thing," said Billy. "Maybe
we can find out something that will give us a directional trend. And
anybody who thinks he won't be struck by lightning if he makes a
prayer, go to it. We could use a bit of Divine Assistance."
The detectors were set up and the recorders started. The tripod of
anchors set themselves in the star's core. The solar intake beams
worked well and the torrents of power increased as the automatic
control slid up the scale.
"The stuff may be different," observed Hendricks, "but we can still get
power from their stars."
"Darned good thing, too," said Thompson. "I don't know how else we'd
swing it."
Again came that feeling of wrenching. And it increased as before.
"Does it feel left-handed or right-handed?" asked Lane nervously.
"I don't know and if I did I wouldn't remember which way it was the
last time," grumbled Downing.
And then the warp formed, and there was the impression, just before it
snapped-quick, that the stars in that universe were flowing like spots
on a watery surface.
And they emerged into a space completely devoid of anything. Not a
star, not a speckle in the complete sphere of utter blackness.
"Obviously went the other way again," grunted Lane.
Jack Rhodes looked up from his calculations. "We had a fifty-fifty
chance, according to the Law of Probabilities. But tossing one head
does not make the next toss any better than fifty-fifty chance for
tails. In fact," mused Rhodes, "tossing a hundred coins may bring you
forty heads and sixty tails--plus or minus ten percent of the true
chance. Tossing a thousand coins may give you four hundred seventy
against five hundred thirty--a three percent error. But though the
latter is more to the true division, the numerical deviation from zero
is only ten in the first case but thirty in the second."
"I hate mathematicians," grunted Downing. "They're all pessimists. So
the longer we try the more distant we get, huh?"
"Unless we can get something to upset the Law of Probability."
"And," added Hendricks sourly, "something to pull against. This
universe is completely devoid of anything material."
"Let's put that as a matter of our being able to detect it at present.
It might be teeming with suns indigenous to this universe and
completely invisible to us."
"We're wasting time," said Thompson. "What's with the detectors and
recorders?"
"About the only thing I can determine from here is a definite
lengthening of the wave length that the puller-sphere propagates on."
"Huh?" asked Billy.
"Definitely."
"When did it lengthen?"
"Its wave length increased on an exponential curve to the time of
warp--"
"Well, now we know--I think--how to get back."
"How?"
"Instead of pulling, we'll push."
* * * * *
Hendricks shook his head. "I think I get you, but I'm not too certain.
Has to do with the wave length-propagation factor, hasn't it?"
"Sure," grinned Billy. "For a given frequency, and a given velocity
of propagation, there will be only one possible wave length to suit
the conditions. That, essentially means that a given distance will
have a definite number of wave lengths so long as the frequency and
speed of propagation is maintained. The puller-sphere we were using is
propagated on a tractor beam. The characteristics of a tractor beam are
that once established, the number of wave lengths between projector and
object remain the same. Then the projector presents a leading signal
phase, and the phase of the tractor beam moves toward the projector to
bring the two waves into zero phase difference. The projector maintains
the leading phase all the time, and thus draws the object. It is just
like turning a nut on a threaded rod, sort of. The wave length is
analogous to the distance between the threads, and the frequency is
the number of threads that pass a point when the rod is moved at the
velocity of propagation.
"Now, suppose we consider the threaded rod as being fixed at the
far end, and pulling at the projector end with sufficient power to
stretch the rod. The frequency happens to be definitely fixed by the
primary standard in the control rack. The distance between remains
the same by the constants set up in the tripod and puller beams. The
wave length-factor, striving to satisfy the demands of the tractor
beam, and maintain the correct number of wave lengths as the beam
pulls, will cause the wave length to lengthen. But that tends to
change the frequency-velocity factors. Result, if I'm getting obscure
again, return to the thread analogy. A standard ten thirty-two screw
has thirty-two threads per inch. Stretch it evenly, and disregard
the distortion, and you have, say twenty-four threads per inch.
Our pulling against the sun resulted in a distortion of the wave
length-frequency-velocity factor, and we pull ourselves into the next
notch in space that fits the increased wave length-frequency-velocity
argument.
"So," concluded Billy, "by pushing instead of pulling, we can cram the
wave length down again, and warp space in the other direction. Think?"
"I'll buy it--if you can find something to push against," said
Hendricks.
"Shucks," grinned Billy. "Shove out your tripod a short distance, but
focus them all together. Then shove against that field of focus."
"Said is as good as done," said Hendricks. "Better work, too. Right now
it is raining gold coins and we're wearing a pair of boxing gloves."
"And while we're on the way back--I hope--we might consider this:
Suppose we take two tractors and face them at one another, hold 'em
apart with a trio of pressors, and let the thing go to work. That's
providing that we find any use for this subspace stuff. It might--"
The wrenching took place at that point. It was much as before; as
far as physical evidence went there was no means of telling whether
this again was "up" or "down." There was apparently no drift between
universes, for their subspace star was not far away.
"This might not be too good," said Billy nervously. "What happens if we
land in the middle of a star?"
"We have a far better chance of landing in the royal middle of
intergalactic space," observed Hendricks. "We may have been in that
position in the sub-subspace. Well, Billy, it is obvious that you hit
the right answer. Shall we take hold of Eureka's sun there and shove?"
"Why bother. Let's be independent."